Better Roads

April 2014

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10 April 2014 Better Roads
Applications & Innovations
By Tina Grady Barbaccia
Through some trial and error in storage, different application equipment and roadway applications, one city's
continued use of liquids has evolved into innovative treatment methods.
Applications & Innovations
Control Equipment and
Techniques for Snowﬁ ghters
Snow
& Ice
L
ast month, Better Roads covered how professional-
grade salt-brine making, blending and truck load-
ing systems are being used as a mobile solution for
municipalities and state agencies to help prevent crippling
situations. These included severe weather hit Atlanta and
Texas; how a group of stakeholders in Ohio created a set of
salt-storage guidelines, "Recommendations for Salt Storage
Guidance for Protecting Ohio's Water Resources;" and how
the blended liquid deicers were used for anti-icing and pre-
wetting, how multi-edge snowplows and highgate wheel
loader plows hit the scene, and how an Automatic Vehicle
Location (AVL) system for snow and ice control management
were implemented.
In this issue, Better Roads shares more technologies and
techniques as the highway and bridge building industry's
snowﬁ ghters gear up for the American Public Works Associa-
tion (APWA) Snow Show May 4-7 in Cincinnati, Ohio (For
more information, go to apwa.net/snow).
A small city big on liquids
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, with a population of a little more
than 50,000 and almost 500 lane miles, has a long and
strong history with the use of liquids in snow and ice con-
trol. In 1966, the city drilled a well 2,700-feet deep into a
salt vein for water softening purposes for the Water Treat-
ment Plant. Fresh water was pumped into the salt vein, and
the product that came back out of the ground was a rich
concentration of natural salt brine. The city's Streets Depart-
ment, spurred by this vast supply of natural brine, began us-
ing it for snow and ice control by the mid-1970s.
"Through some trial and error in storage, different ap-
plication equipment and roadway applications, the city's
continued use of this valuable money saving product has
evolved into some very innovative treatment methods in its
winter maintenance program," says Charles Novak with the
City of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio's Street Department. "From an-
ti-icing to deicing, the city has employed treatment methods
proven to reduce salt consumption, achieve great results and
save money both directly and indirectly."
The city also tries to be on the forefront of innovation
and technology and has a long history of the use of high-
volume spreaders that not only pre-wet solids but apply